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Gastronomy and traditions
One of the great attractions that Beteta offers is its gastronomy, which is based on its history and its peculiar geographical location. The traditional cuisine is closely related to the seasonal and festive cycles, as well as with the basic raw materials of the land. Typical are the products of slaughter, lamb stew, zarajos or the typical morteruelo, a kind of pate made with game meat. We cannot forget to try the Artatunos, a kind of omelette made with potatoes and bread, which arises as a way to get different dishes with the same ingredients as always.
Other products are linked to festivities or religious celebrations such as garbanzada or Easter stew, made with chickpeas, cod and spinach, is prepared as a typical dish on Good Friday.
Finally, it is worth mentioning a liqueur made with anise, coffee and orange peel-Chapurrao, which was drunk on the day of the slaughter, but also in other popular meals such as in the pilgrimage of the Virgen de la Rosa, along with the traditional rosquillos de sartén.

Four are the festivities that are celebrated with intensity in Beteta:
The first, and perhaps the most traditional, is the Fiesta de los Mayos, which is celebrated with the traditional singing of May to the Virgen de la Rosa on May 30 and a pilgrimage to her chapel the following day.
In August the patron saint festivities in honor of San Ginés are celebrated in the hamlet of El Tobar, where charity is distributed among the neighbors.
In September the festivities in honor of Our Lady the Virgin of the Rose are celebrated, with its traditional offering to the children.
Other festivities continue throughout the year, such as the Charity of St. Anthony, which is celebrated on June 13 with the distribution of charity among the neighbors.
The Bonfire of San Pedro is a celebration in the neighborhood of the same name, where a bonfire is lit in the square that once housed a church or chapel in honor of the saint.
The celebration of All Saints’ Day is a deeply rooted local custom, dating back to ancient Celtic traditions. Every November 1st, the locals carve and empty pumpkins, transforming them into lanterns that light the ascent of the castle. This practice, of Celtic origin, symbolizes guidance for benign spirits and protection against evil spirits. In addition, sweet porridge is prepared, a typical dessert made with flour, sugar and milk, which is shared among family and friends, representing union and tradition.
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Las Serranillas is one of the tThe best-known companies arethe dance is a version of the classic dance of cintas, extendorsed by tous countries in Europe in which, at the time of ttion of the ten fivetcolored satin ribbons that emerge from the altor a big stick and effective crosses.ttioned by the dancerstes, the stick remains totalmente tsilk. The dance involves is te process twice and its followington, again stripping back the esttion.
If there is a typical dance of Beteta this is “El pollo y el milano”, popularly known as “El pollo”. This descriptive dance tells the story of a chicken and its predator, a kite that wants to hunt it. This story that seems a common country scene of the Sierra hides a political and military background and origin.
After the abdications of Bayonne, Napoleon’s troops invaded the Peninsula in 1808, starting the Spanish War of Independence, which was highlighted by the emergence of the guerrilla phenomenon that, together with the regular allied armies, caused the progressive attrition of the Napoleonic forces. During the war, popular political and satirical songs and ditties became common. Thus appeared many songs and dances against the French, as in Albalate de las Nogueras, Sotos, or Beteta. The melody of the chicken, with a marked character of march could well be its origin a French military march with which the beteteños ridiculed the armies of Napoleon and the eagerness they had to conquer Spain. The chicken is a metaphor for the Spanish people and the kite, the invading French empire. Thus the dance takes on a political meaning: throughout the dance the chicken-Spain is stalked by the kite-Napoleon, who watches him, flies over him and tries to catch him, but the chicken-Spain outwits him and finally manages to escape.
Another typical song is found in El Borrego, with references to the life of shepherds.